Choosing the Right Flasher Unit

[Dave]

Here's some old threads that may clear up what the transducer problem may have been.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=514608&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

[Quickstrike]

i saw some questions about the lowrance x67 and x68 earlier so i thought i would share my recent experience with the unit. I bought a 67 4 days ago and took it out for the first time with no problems, it worked great and has many cool features. however, when i took it out today after 5 mins of fishing the screen turned white and said, "computer corrupted, contact service team." Don't know exactly what that means, but i could not get it to work again, and rather then contacting the "service team," i returned it and got a marcum.

[Wade Joseph]

Anyone got anything good or bad to say about the Zercom units?

[Quickstrike]

i had a zercom clearwater classic for 10 years and it was a very solid unit. you can find them very cheap on hsolist although the grey scale doesn't match up to the more modern color units. it is also underpowered when fishing deep water but for the price you can't beat those units in my opinion.

[Deitz Dittrich]

wade, I had an Zercom LCF40 for a few years.. I used it as a back up till about 5 years ago and sold it. Its a decent unit and when not very many people had depthfinders on the ice it was fine..However, they do not have any interfierence reduction. So if you are fishing iwthin a few yards of someone who does have a flasher, your zercom is very hard to read!

[MIke N]

I just wanted to say I"m a new member here, greetings all. I've been viewing the threads on the flashers, and I'm just a "trigger finger" away from calling Cabellas. They have a Marcum LX-3 on sale for 239.00. However, it doesn't have the "soft pack", carriage (I'm not sure what this is), digital battery gage, or battery.

I called Gander Mountain (I'm located in Michigan, again hello my Minnesota fishin friends!) in Michigan, and they have a unit in the box for $349.00. I'm not sure if the one for 349.00 includes the soft pack, carriage, digital gage and battery.

Question: 1). Do you know what the "carriage" is? I"m not sure what this is.

2). Do you still think this is a good deal? I'm sure I can find a small 12 V battery.

3). What would you recommend I use for ice fishing - does this thing need the "soft pack", to shield it somewhat from the elements? I'm sure I can fab something up, like a small duffel bag or something.

4). I also intend on using this thing in the summer. If I bought it for $239.00, what else would I have to buy to use on my boat in the summertime?

Lastly, its good to see a product made here in the USA that is doing well. I work for the auto industry (Ford), and we are taking a beating, as are the rest of the domestics around here, and our state in General. Seems everyone around here is "crapping where they eat", and buying all this junk from the Far East (Japan, Korean, and probably soon to be China). Good thing we have the great outdoors to forget our troubles around here. Anyway, thanks in advance for the input.

[Corey Bechtold]

First off, Welcome to FM! Glad to see you jumping into the fun. As far as buying a unit, be sure to check out the For Sale forums on this site. Another place to look is the online store on FM. You might be able to pick up a LX-3 cheaper than Cabelas or at least with the soft pack.

Good luck,

Corey Bechtold

[Wade Joseph]

Welcome aboard mike...for your peace of mind...I own only Fords, and will buy only Fords.

[Bigbartguy]

Welcome Mike

I bought the Cabela deal, saw what it consisted of and returned it. For me, the 'full meal deal' ice pack was alot better setup. Comes with a great charger,digital power gauge, and the factory pack & carriage is VERY nice. I dont think you can order the factory pack from Marcum - I believe they only sell the inferior quality ones as seperate items.

Not sure where you're located but Dick's and Gander in Bloomington are still supposed to have some 'full meal' LX-3s for $300. It was worth the extra money for me.

incidentally, the carriage is the metal thing that holds the battery, charger, and sonar unit

[Dave]

Welcome Mike!

The $239 Marcum at Cabella's comes ready to mount on a boat. There was an earlier thread that explained Cabella's making a sales ad mistake.

The soft pack is the soft case in which the Marcum is in for ice fishing; like you see in many ads.

The $349 Marcum more than likely comes complete for ice fishing (soft case, charger and carriage). The carriage is what the Marcum unit will mount onto, and which in turn slides into the soft pack.

The Marcum cahrging system is more than just a "charger". You can leave it plugged in and it will not damage your battery from over charging.

Yes, to save some money, you could fabricate some type of enclosure to mount the $239 Marcum in. Batteries are about $20.

I'm not sure which transducer comes with the $239 deal so, you may have to purchase a trolling motor transducer or high speed transducer. Depends how you want it mounted in your boat.

Again, welcome to FM and feel free to ask any questions.

[Wadinator]

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. The Marcum cahrging system is more than just a "charger". You can leave it plugged in and it will not damage your battery from over charging.

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Can you use a regular 12V 2amp trickle battery charger with an auto shut-off, like I use on my boat batteries? Or is the 2amps still too much juice?

[metrojoe]

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Can you use a regular 12V 2amp trickle battery charger with an auto shut-off, like I use on my boat batteries? Or is the 2amps still too much juice?

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You don't need to. The Marcums have a 3 stage charger. You can't leave it hooked up indefinitely, but you could leave it for a few days (or in my case forget)without worrying you damaged the battery.

[Wadinator]

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Can you use a regular 12V 2amp trickle battery charger with an auto shut-off, like I use on my boat batteries? Or is the 2amps still too much juice?

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You don't need to. The Marcums have a 3 stage charger. You can't leave it hooked up indefinitely, but you could leave it for a few days (or in my case forget)without worrying you damaged the battery.

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I should have stated that I have a VEXILAR charger.

[steve schmidt]

My brother actually called and they sent us two "new" pucks at no charge. I say "new" cuz they had some minor scratches which led us to believe they were reconditioned.

Also, my brother just told me he got a flyer from Cabela's that the LX 3 was available for $249.00. We paid almost $400. I wonder if he saw it wrong and it is the LX 1.

Anyway, after having owned locators for years, I wonder if the high output created some problems for the transducers.??

If I can help further, please send me an email. I don't check them every day but once or twice a week. Good Luck!

[caseymcq]

I aked this question of a former Vex now Marcum user in a different post but I thought this would be a good place to fly it too.

With the Marcum units pumping out more wattage than a Vex, do those of you that have experience with both notice any difference in battery life?

[Wadinator]

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Can you use a regular 12V 2amp trickle battery charger with an auto shut-off, like I use on my boat batteries? Or is the 2amps still too much juice?

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You don't need to. The Marcums have a 3 stage charger. You can't leave it hooked up indefinitely, but you could leave it for a few days (or in my case forget)without worrying you damaged the battery.

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I should have stated that I have a VEXILAR charger.

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BUMP

[caseymcq]

I am not as fluent in Web lingo as I should be, doe BUMP mean something other than a relatively abrupt convexity on a surface?

[Matt Johnson]

I haven't had any problems with battery life, and I'm able to run my MarCum a couple days, if not more, before charging. Not much different than other flashers.

I typically charge my MarCum every chance I get though, helps keep the battery in optimal conditions...

[Doonbuggy]

Thanks everybody for all the input on the various flashers out there. I was kind of on the fence of whether to buy one at all, but I ended up getting an LX-3 on sale and got some great service to boot so I feel like I have a good understanding of how helpful these units can be.

I like having plenty of ice underneath me so with these cold temps it won't be long now.

DB

[flipper]

I have read through all of this thread and just had to add my two cents. I recently bought a new ice fishing flasher and went with the vexilar fl-18. I know customer loyalty is not practiced much these days but I am still a big believer in it. The vexilar people have been great to me over the years. In my opinion their customer service is second to none. I am a fisherman, not a techie so watts of power etc. don't mean a lot to me. I do know that vexilar has stood the test of time to be a long lasting, dependable

fishing tool. I challenge any marcum user to outfish me and say the reason is because they were using a marcum instead of a vexilar.

Flipper out

[redrocketangler]

I looked at the true color display on marcums this weekend. Its the difference between regular tv and high- def. unbelieveable nuff said

[lizardwizard]

Sorry to renig boys, but I am now the proud owner of an lx-5, I may have liked the fl-18 over the lx3 but I WAY like the lx-5 over anything!!! HERE IS another once fl-18 owner now fishing with marcum, and let me tell you, the lx-5 is worth every one of the 50,000 pennies in my piggy bank

[eyepatrol]

I have never owned a flasher unit before and this year I'm getting one. From what I've read here and what I've heard by word of mouth, the Marcum is the way to go. I'm sure if the tables were turned and guys were switching from Marcum to Vex, then I'd be doing that. As a person whose never owned a flasher though, I rely on what the pro-staffers depend on....if they favor and depend on a product, then I can trust that I can depend on it too. I'll be getting the LX-3tc and am really looking forward to working with this product.

In past years I've always just drilled holes, sent the depthfinder sinker down and if it was about the depth I was looking for, I'd start fishing, not knowing what I was fishing over, essentially. I bought an underwater camera and that really was nice to be able to see what the bottom content was like and if there were fish down there, but that required drilling holes. Last year I bought a Polarvision hand-held depth finder, which helped even more since it gave me depth and also would show if it was reading fish, but it didn't tell me at what depth the fish were at. So, as you can tell, I'm really looking forward to getting this unit. The more I think of it, I'm buying my units backwards! I should have first bought the flasher, then maybe the Polarvision, then the underwater camera. Oh well. I am really excited about getting this unit though....I think it will really help my productivity level. And, for a guy who only gets out about once every two weeks, I want to have the best equipment possible to maximize my chances for the few times I do get out on the ice.

Just a couple questions though....

What is the learning curve on this unit? Is it "user friendly" such that it only takes a time or two to figure out, or does it take a full season of fishing to be able to learn how to truly use it?

Also, can the transducer read through the ice like my Polarvision? It would be nice to walk around with this unit, checking locations on the ice for depth, structure, fish, etc., but I was wondering if it has the capability of doing this?

thanks much

bc

[CNY Tim]

What is the learning curve on this unit? Is it "user friendly" such that it only takes a time or two to figure out, or does it take a full season of fishing to be able to learn how to truly use it?

Also, can the transducer read through the ice like my Polarvision? It would be nice to walk around with this unit, checking locations on the ice for depth, structure, fish, etc., but I was wondering if it has the capability of doing this?

Your learning curve question is a very good question. First make sure you read your owners manual thoroughly or become very familiar with it prior to purchase at marcum tech customer service web site where the owners manuals are available on these units. MarCum designed these units extremely user friendly from my hand's on experience the LX-3TC is just that.

After you drilled your hole, swing out the ice ducer from the softpack and lower it so the transducer is just below the bottom of the ice. Turn the unit on and you will be in the 0-20' setting and turn the gain button up to 2 or 3 looking for a red band which associates your setting with the bottom of the lake floor if no bottom is showing switch the on/off button to the right to the 40' setting again look for a red bottom. Once you have located the bottom it's now time to try out the most awesome feature in the industry, MarCum's 10' zoom. The easiest way to do that is tap your zoom button once for the 5' window and twice for 10' (This button activates the zoom window) On the right hand side of your display will be the entire water column the left side will be your 5' or 10' zoom window which ever one you have chosen. 1 tap 5' - 2 taps 10'- 3 taps Zoom's off. Now say you have tapped the zoom button twice so your in the 10' zoom mode in let's say 34' of water, immediately go to your down arrow button and press and hold you will see two yellow blinking lights that are running down from the top of the right hand side of your display. That is your zoom window, in this window you get extreme detail you narrow the target I.D. from 2.15" to 1" and will be able to pick up detail in your target area that is unmatched. So you brought your zoom down to where it's 10' off the bottom you will see that 10' zoom window reflected on the left side of your display superbly enhanced and a feature that is critical to determining the mood of the fish that you will be targeting and an awesome tool for adjusting your presentation.

It sounds like it's complicated but it's not at all so remember..

Find Bottom

Push zoom button twice

Immedately go to the down arrow button and hold

I had this figured out in the first 10 min. of fishing with it. This feature alone is fantastic if you like fishing flat's you can pull the unit out and hop hole to hole never readjusting to stay in zoom. It's the only 3 color flasher that can do this without being recalibrated.

Your next question about reading depth without having to cut a hole, yes you can if the ice is not full of air pockets this can accomplished quite simply by using your MarCum make sure you have water between the transducer and the ice surface. No unit will read through snow on top of the ice so clear off the snow, put a little water down and check depth with your transducer. I purchased the MarCum LXi hand held depth/fish finder which was designed by the same engineers that designed the Polar Vision. I love my LXi because it's light weight with a holster and keeps depth checking very light weight what I like about the LXi is it alerts you to fish prescence and at what level there at...

Good luck with your LX3TC you've chosen a very fine unit and if you have any questions the FM staff will gladly help.

Merry Christmas!

[Walleye Patrol]

I like the post, very thought out. Personally i have an FL18, and have been very happy with it, except that latley my bottom readout has been jumpy. The lake bottom on the zoom feature occasionally jumps to a foot or too off of the grid. My battery power is good and its not too cold. If i flip it off and then on again it usually fixes the problem. Does anyone else see this happen. Other than that i love my FL18, but i have never used any other brand. Good luck fishing